Sacred Heart
1-3
James Madison
4-1
Second-Half Rally Falls Short In 79-72 Loss At James Madison
11/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Harrisonburg, Vir. - The Sacred Heart University men's basketball cut a 21-point first-half deficit to five points, three times in the second-half, but could get no closer, falling 79-72 to host James Madison University on Wednesday afternoon.
The Pioneers fell behind 21, 36-15 with 4:41 to play in the first-half, but outscored the Dukes 57- 43 the remainder of the contest. SHU forced 13 second-half JMU turnovers, coming away with seven of 10 steals following the intermission. SHU would be within five points twice in the final 98 seconds, but could not get any closer.
JMU opened the second-half with a 6-4 spurt, pushing its advantage back to 16 points, 47-31, 2:41 into the period. A pair of De'von Barnett free throws at the 16:33 mark began a 7-3 Pioneer run, spurred by a pair of Phil Gaetano three pointers at 15:09 and 13:25 mark, to draw the Pioneers within 10, 50-40 and force a JMU timeout.
The Dukes scored the next five points, expanding their advantage back to 15 points, 55-40 with 11:31 to play. Cane Broome stole a pass at the arc and went the length of the floor to end the run with 10:53 to play. Tevin Falzon blocked a JMU jumper on the next possession and again Broom converted on the other end, making the score 55-44 with 9:51 to play in the half. Paulius Satkus converted two free throws to make the score 57-44.
The Pioneers scored the next seven points, with three pointers from Tevin Falzon and Steve Glowiak, getting them back within five points, 57-52 with 8:14 to play. JMU answered with a run of its own, scoring seven straight and 12 of 15 to push its advantage to 69-55 on a Tom Vodanovich three pointers with 4:19 to play.
The Pioneers held JMU scoreless for over 2:34 after falling behind 69-55 with 4:19 to play in the game. Jordan Allen scored a layup with 3:34 to play and Barnett followed 18 seconds later to get the Pioneers back within 10, 69-59. Glowiak converted a pair of free throws with 2:37 to play to get within eight, 69-61, with 2:37 remaining. A Ron Curry free throw with 1:45 to play ended the JMU drought, but the Pioneers kept coming. Phil Gaetano hit a three-pointer, and was fouled, with 1:38 to play, and converted the free throw, to make the score 70-65.
Broome led four Pioneers in double figures, scoring 15 points and collecting a game-high eight rebounds. Barnett had 14 points, while Gaetano added 13 and Glowiak added 11 off of the bench. Gaetano was 4-6-from behind the arc and handed out four assists. SHU shot 40.3 percent from the field for the game, hitting 9-27 from behind the arc, but going just 13-23 from the free throw line. The Pioneers finished with 16 assists against 12 turnovers.
Satkus led all scorers with 21 points, hitting 5-5 from the field and 10-11 form the line, and collected eight rebounds. Jackson Kent had 15, going 5-6 from the line, as the Dukes finished 27-33 from the free throw line as a team.
The JMU offense came out hot, hitting 5-6 to start the game, while the Pioneers missed their first four shots as the Dukes opened a 12-2 lead 3:44 into the contest. JMU shot 5-9 from behind the arc in the opening period. JMU opened a 21-point lead on a pair of #10 free throws with 4:41 to play.
A pair of Steve Glowiak three-pointers, sandwiched around the under-four media timeout was followed by a Broome baseline layup to cut the deficit to 36-23 with 2:42 to play before the half. Tom Vodanvich ended the JMU drought, and the Pioneer run, with a conventional three-point play with 1:13 to play. After a Pioneer miss, Broome picked off a pass at the top of the arc and went the length of the floor to make the score 39-25. Vodanvich answered for JMU on the other end of the floor to make the lead 16 once again, but De'Von Barnett put back a missed three at the buzzer to send the Pioneers to the break trailing, 41-27.
The Pioneers are back in action on Sunday, November 30 when they host Campbell University at 3:30 p.m. as the second game of a double header with the SHU women's basketball team.
